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Quasi-public private schools give 100% of students tuition vouchers

educationAug 17, 2026221,698

ProPublica found a subset of private schools it calls the "100% schools" where every student uses state tuition vouchers, meaning tax dollars pay all or most tuition while the schools operate with far less oversight than public districts. In Wisconsin there were 39 such schools in the most recent school year, educating 7,923 children and taking in roughly $87 million in voucher payments. ProPublica singled out Atlas Preparatory Academy in Milwaukee, which received more than $4.3 million in voucher money for 357 students while reporting low test scores and declining enrollment; the school’s board chair appeared to serve as an administrator and was paid more than $150,000 in 2024, and his accounting firm received tens of thousands of dollars from the school. Unlike traditional public schools, these voucher-funded private schools are not required to serve all children with disabilities and do not face the same transparency rules; they must provide at least two meetings a year for parents but need not make those meetings open to the public. The reporting notes the question a Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction paper posed more than a decade ago, "When is a private school really a public school?" and says public officials who support vouchers have not provided a clear answer or aligned private-school standards with those for public districts. The piece documents specific governance and financial arrangements that would be prohibited in public schools but are allowed in these quasi-public private schools, highlighting gaps regulators could address if policymakers choose to act.

ProPublica
@propublica.org

NEW: At some private schools across the U.S., every student uses taxpayer money to pay toward tuition, thanks to the growth of school voucher programs. But these "quasi-public" schools face almost none of the scrutiny given to public schools.

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